To solve the lack of wear resistance of titanium alloys for use in biological applications, various prepared coatings on titanium alloys are often used as wear-resistant materials. In this paper, TiC bioinert coatings were fabricated on Ti6Al4V by laser cladding using mixed TiC and ZrO₂ powders as the basic pre-placed materials. A certain amount of CeO₂ powder was also added to the pre-placed powders to further improve the properties of the TiC coatings. The effects of CeO₂ additive on the phase constituents, microstructures and wear resistance of the TiC coatings were researched in detail. Although the effect of CeO₂ on the phase constituents of the coatings was slight, it had a significant effect on the microstructure and wear resistance of the coatings. The crystalline grains in the TiC coatings, observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), were refined due to the effect of the CeO₂. With the increase of CeO₂ additive content in the pre-placed powders, finer and more compact dendrites led to improvement of the micro-hardness and wear resistance of the TiC coatings. Also, 5 wt % content of CeO₂ additive in the pre-placed powders was the best choice for improving the wear properties of the TiC coatings.
Keywords: CeO2; TiC bioinert coatings; laser cladding; microstructure; wear resistance.